Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009), Goodbye

OBITUARY, by Maurice Bloch

Becoming Human

Where did we come from? What makes us human? An explosion of recent discoveries sheds light on these questions, and NOVA's three-part T.V special, Becoming Human, examines what the latest scientific research reveals about our hominid relatives.

Becoming Human Part 1
First Steps: 6 million years ago, what set our ancestors on the path from ape to human? Tuesday, November 3 at 8 pm (Check local listings)

Becoming Human Part 2
Birth of Humanity: New discoveries reveal how early humans hunted and formed families. Tuesday, November 10 at 8 pm (Check local listings)

Becoming Human Part 3
Last Human Standing: Many human species once shared the globe. Why do we alone remain? Tuesday, November 17 at 8 pm (Check local listings)

Learn More: Here

"Some of my genes are 500 million years old, others 3 million, others 100,000 years, and my habits range in age from a few days to several thousand years. As Péguy's Clio said, and as Michel Serres repeats, "we are exchangers and brewers of time." It is this exchange that defines us, not the calendar or the flow that the moderns had constructed for us. Pile up the burgraves one behind the other, and you will still not have time. Go down sideways to grab hold of the event of Cherobino's death in its intensity, and time will be given to you.”

-Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern, p.75

The Evolving World with David Mindell

In this informative talk distinguished zoologist and ecologist David Mindell talks about evolution, genomics, science theory, wolves and germs. Enjoy.

Toxic Alberta: Petro Politics and Tar Sands Impact

Below AlJazeera English speaks to native and environmental groups, as well as government and oil industry spokespeople about the impact Alberta's oil sands development is having on the environment.

And below journalist and Greenpeace International co-founder Rex Weyler discusses the geology and science of petroleum extraction and the ‘real costs’ of the Alberta tar sands.

Now for some “street logic” on the most destructive human-caused environmental disaster in history:

Arc of War, Map of Responsibility

The political dynamics of conflict in Africa’s most complex region must be understood if enduring solutions are to be found.

Arc of War, Map of Responsibility in the Congo

By Martin Shaw - October 14, 2009

The reports of an upsurge of violence in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may at a glance appear little more than a continuation of the persistent conflict in the country over much of the last two decades. Yet a closer look reveals not just the particularity of what is happening in one corner of Africa, but the ingredients of a wider arc of endemic conflict across a huge swathe of the continent.

Read More: Here

Martin Shaw is a historical sociologist of war and global politics, and professor of international relations and politics at the University of Sussex. His books include War and Genocide (2003) and What is Genocide? (2007). His website is here.

Being No One

Thomas Metzinger is the Director of the Philosophy Group at the Department of Philosophy at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz. His research focuses on philosophy of mind, especially on consciousness and the nature of the self. He is also the author of popular book The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self.

In the following 2005 lecture Metzinger develops a representationalist theory of phenomenal self-consciousness. Metzinger's basic premise is that there is ultimately no "subject," or as a Buddhist might understand it, no self.

the evolution of human nature

We are socially embedded beings, and we wouldn't have evolved into what we are without being such. Below, journalist Natasha Mitchell talks with Sarah Blaffer Hrdy - Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis - about the evolution of human relationships, sexuality and character. Hrdy argues it's our capacity to imagine that allows us to create our complicated social systems.

'It takes a village': the evolution of human nature

Listen Now - 03102009 Download Audio - 03102009 [Play]

What most distinguishes us from other apes? Our naked flesh? Language? Our empathic ways? Acclaimed anthropologist and sociobiologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy has spent her long research career upending assumptions about sex, reproduction and the evolution of human nature. She joins Natasha Mitchell to discuss her new book Mothers and Others, and why it took a village to generate a big brained human child.

Show Transcript Hide Transcript

Transcripts are published Wednesdays. Audio is published directly after broadcast on Saturdays.

Guests

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
Professor Emerita
Department of Anthropology
University of California, Davis
http://www.citrona.com/hrdy/index.html

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE PODCAST: HERE

Maps and Borders

Many people think the lines on the map no longer matter, but geopolitical researcher Parag Khanna says they do. Using maps of the past and present, he explains the root causes of border conflicts worldwide and proposes simple yet cunning solutions for each.



Political scientist Parag Khanna travels the world with his eyes open -- and has become a trenchant critic of the standard wisdom about the second and third worlds. Khanna's recent book, The Second World: How Emerging Powers Are Redefining Global Competition in the Twenty-first Century, looks at the epic political manipulations of nations struggling to end up at the top of the global heap. Esquire calls Khanna one of the 75 people who will influence the 21st century, precisely because it's these smaller countries that will shape the world's future.

Khanna argues that we're entering a time of apolarity -- when the traditional centers of gravity (US/Europe/Russia/China) will no longer hold. He sees a 21st century that has much in common with the feudal 16th century, where non-state actors have as much influence on the course of world events as countries do. His next book will explore this new medievalism and its effect on the diplomatic-industrial complex.